Systems and methods for utilizing multiple map portions from multiple map data sources

ABSTRACT

Systems, methods, and non-transitory computer-readable media can acquire a request for a map of a particular region. A first set of one or more map portions for representing a first portion of the particular region can be identified based on the particular region. The first set can be associated with a first map data source. A second set of one or more map portions for representing a second portion of the particular region can be identified based on the particular region. The second set can be associated with a second map data source. The map of the particular region can be generated based on a combination of the first set and the second set.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.14/855,096, filed on Sep. 15, 2015 and entitled “SYSTEMS AND METHODS FORUTILIZING MULTIPLE MAP PORTIONS FROM MULTIPLE MAP DATA SOURCES”, whichis incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present technology relates to the field of electronic mapping. Moreparticularly, the present technology relates to techniques for utilizingmultiple map portions from multiple map data sources.

BACKGROUND

Today, people often utilize computing devices (or systems) for a widevariety of purposes. Users can use their computing devices to, forexample, interact with one another, access content, share content, andcreate content. In some cases, users can utilize their computing devicesto download, view, access, or otherwise interact with maps, such asdigital or electronic maps. For instance, users of a social networkingsystem (or service) can, via their computing devices, access maps bybrowsing information about places or by checking in at various places.

Under conventional approaches rooted in computer technology, a map isgenerally created or rendered based on map data acquired from a givenmap data source or provider. In one example, a user of a computingdevice can navigate to a web resource (or website) to access a map,which can be provided by a single entity associated with the webresource. In another example, the user can download and run anapplication (or app) that presents a map, which can be provided byanother entity associated with the application. However, in accordancewith conventional approaches to providing maps, a given map data sourcemay provide satisfactory map data for one region or location, but maynot be able to provide satisfactory map data for another region orlocation. As such, conventional approaches can create challenges for orreduce the overall experience associated with utilizing maps.

SUMMARY

Various embodiments of the present disclosure can include systems,methods, and non-transitory computer readable media configured toacquire a request for a map of a particular region. A first set of oneor more map portions for representing a first portion of the particularregion can be identified based on the particular region. The first setcan be associated with a first map data source. A second set of one ormore map portions for representing a second portion of the particularregion can be identified based on the particular region. The second setcan be associated with a second map data source. The map of theparticular region can be generated based on a combination of the firstset and the second set.

In an embodiment, identifying, based on the particular region, the firstset can further comprise calculating a first map similarity score basedon comparing the first set with one or more recognized map portionsassociated with a recognized map data source. The one or more recognizedmap portions can represent the first portion of the particular region. Asecond map similarity score can be calculated based on comparing a thirdset of one or more map portions with the one or more recognized mapportions. The third set can represent the first portion of theparticular region. The first set can be selected instead of the thirdset when the first map similarity score is greater than the second mapsimilarity score.

In an embodiment, calculating the first map similarity score based oncomparing the first set with the one or more recognized map portions canfurther comprise acquiring a first collection of map features from thefirst set. A second collection of map features can be acquired from theone or more recognized map portions. A level of similarity can bedetermined between the first collection of map features and the secondcollection of map features. The first map similarity score can be basedon the level of similarity.

In an embodiment, at least one of the first collection or the secondcollection can include at least one of a road feature, a water feature,a landform feature, a landmark feature, or a border feature.

In an embodiment, the first set can be preset to be identified forrepresenting the first portion of the particular region.

In an embodiment, at least one map portion in the first set can beacquired, for generating the map, at a same time as at least one mapportion in the second set.

In an embodiment, a first style associated with the first set and asecond style associated with the second set can be modified such thatthe first style matches, within an allowable deviation, the secondstyle.

In an embodiment, one or more first graphical qualities of at least somemap portions in the first set can be blended with one or more secondgraphical qualities of at least some map portions in the second set.

In an embodiment, first attribution information for the first set andsecond attribution information for the second set can be dynamicallyprovided. At least one of the first attribution information or thesecond attribution information can be associated with at least one of alogo, a mark, or a copyright.

In an embodiment, the request can further include at least one ofcurrent location information or language information. The at least oneof the current location information or the language information can beassociated with a device that provides the request. At least one of thefirst set or the second set can be identified further based on the atleast one of the current location information or the languageinformation.

It should be appreciated that many other features, applications,embodiments, and/or variations of the disclosed technology will beapparent from the accompanying drawings and from the following detaileddescription. Additional and/or alternative implementations of thestructures, systems, non-transitory computer readable media, and methodsdescribed herein can be employed without departing from the principlesof the disclosed technology.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates an example system including an example multiple mapportion module configured to facilitate utilizing multiple map portionsfrom multiple map data sources, according to an embodiment of thepresent disclosure.

FIG. 2A illustrates an example map portion identification moduleconfigured to facilitate utilizing multiple map portions from multiplemap data sources, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 2B illustrates an example map generation module configured tofacilitate utilizing multiple map portions from multiple map datasources, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 3A illustrates an example scenario associated with utilizingmultiple map portions from multiple map data sources, according to anembodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 3B illustrates an example scenario associated with utilizingmultiple map portions from multiple map data sources, according to anembodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 4A illustrates an example scenario associated with utilizingmultiple map portions from multiple map data sources, according to anembodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 4B illustrates an example scenario associated with utilizingmultiple map portions from multiple map data sources, according to anembodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 5 illustrates an example method associated with utilizing multiplemap portions from multiple map data sources, according to an embodimentof the present disclosure.

FIG. 6 illustrates an example method associated with utilizing multiplemap portions from multiple map data sources, according to an embodimentof the present disclosure.

FIG. 7 illustrates a network diagram of an example system including anexample social networking system that can be utilized in variousscenarios, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 8 illustrates an example of a computer system or computing devicethat can be utilized in various scenarios, according to an embodiment ofthe present disclosure.

The figures depict various embodiments of the disclosed technology forpurposes of illustration only, wherein the figures use like referencenumerals to identify like elements. One skilled in the art will readilyrecognize from the following discussion that alternative embodiments ofthe structures and methods illustrated in the figures can be employedwithout departing from the principles of the disclosed technologydescribed herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Utilizing Multiple Map Portions from Multiple Map Data Sources

People use computing systems (or devices) for various purposes. Userscan utilize their computing systems to establish connections, engage incommunications, interact with one another, and/or interact with varioustypes of content. In some cases, a user of a computing device canutilize maps, such as digital or electronic maps. For example, the usercan utilize his or her computing device to navigate to a socialnetworking system (or service) and to access maps provided via thesocial networking system, such as when browsing pages of places and/orwhen checking in at various places. In another example, the user canaccess maps provided via a mapping web resource. In a further example,the user can access maps provided via a mapping application.

Conventional approaches rooted in computer technology generally involveutilizing a particular map data source to provide map data and thengenerating a map based on the map data from the particular map datasource. However, under conventional approaches to utilizing maps, themap generated based on the map data provided by the particular map datasource can, in many cases, lack sufficient detail, accuracy, orcomprehensiveness for representing one or more particular regions orlocations. Accordingly, such conventional approaches can be inefficient,ineffective, or inconvenient for providing maps.

Due to these or other concerns, conventional approaches can bedisadvantageous or problematic. Therefore, an improved approach can bebeneficial for addressing or alleviating various drawbacks associatedwith conventional approaches. Based on computer technology, thedisclosed technology can utilize multiple map portions (i.e., map tiles,map squares, map rectangles, map polygons, etc.) from multiple map datasources. Various embodiments of the present disclosure can acquire arequest for a map of a particular region. A first set of one or more mapportions for representing a first portion of the particular region canbe identified based on the particular region. The first set can beassociated with a first map data source. A second set of one or more mapportions for representing a second portion of the particular region canbe identified based on the particular region. The second set can beassociated with a second map data source. The map of the particularregion can be generated based on a combination of the first set and thesecond set. It is contemplated that there can be many variations and/orother possibilities associated with the disclosed technology.

FIG. 1 illustrates an example system 100 including an example multiplemap portion module 102 configured to facilitate utilizing multiple mapportions from multiple map data sources, according to an embodiment ofthe present disclosure. As shown in the example of FIG. 1, the multiplemap portion module 102 can include a request acquisition module 104, amap portion identification module 106, and a map generation module 108.In some instances, the example system 100 can include at least one datastore 110. The components (e.g., modules, elements, etc.) shown in thisfigure and all figures herein are exemplary only, and otherimplementations may include additional, fewer, integrated, or differentcomponents. Some components may not be shown so as not to obscurerelevant details.

In some embodiments, the multiple map portion module 102 can beimplemented, in part or in whole, as software, hardware, or anycombination thereof. In general, a module as discussed herein can beassociated with software, hardware, or any combination thereof. In someimplementations, one or more functions, tasks, and/or operations ofmodules can be carried out or performed by software routines, softwareprocesses, hardware, and/or any combination thereof. In some cases, themultiple map portion module 102 can be implemented, in part or in whole,as software running on one or more computing devices or systems, such ason a user or client computing device. For example, the multiple mapportion module 102 or at least a portion thereof can be implemented asor within an application (e.g., app), a program, an applet, or anoperating system, etc., running on a user computing device or a clientcomputing system, such as the user device 710 of FIG. 7. In anotherexample, the multiple map portion module 102 or at least a portionthereof can be implemented using one or more computing devices orsystems that include one or more servers, such as network servers orcloud servers. In some instances, the multiple map portion module 102can, in part or in whole, be implemented within or configured to operatein conjunction with a social networking system (or service), such as thesocial networking system 730 of FIG. 7. It should be understood thatthere can be many variations or other possibilities.

The request acquisition module 104 can be configured to facilitateacquiring a request for a map of a particular region. In some cases, therequest acquisition module 104 can be configured to receive, fetch, orotherwise acquire the request for the map of the particular region froma computing device (or system), such as the user device 710 and/or atleast one server of the social networking system 730 of FIG. 7. In oneexample, the computing device can request the map of the particularregion when attempting to load or render the map of the particularregion. In another example, the computing device can request the map ofthe particular region when the computing device receives or detects auser command or user interaction (e.g., a scroll operation, a zoomoperation, etc.) that causes the map to shift or zoom to the particularregion. It should be understood that all examples herein are providedfor illustrative purposes and that many variations are possible.

In some embodiments, the request can further include at least one ofcurrent location information or language information. The at least oneof the current location information or the language information can beassociated with a device that provides the request, such as the userdevice 710. In some implementations, the map for the particular regioncan be generated based on information included in the request, such asbased on at least one of the current location information or thelanguage information. For example, if the particular region includesdisputed borders, then the map of the particular region can be generatedto include a suitable depiction of the borders based on the currentlocation of the device. In another example, if the language informationindicates a preference for a particular language and if the map of theparticular region includes text (e.g., names of cities, territories,roads, etc.), then the map of the particular region can be generated toinclude the text in the particular language. Many variations arepossible.

The map portion identification module 106 can be configured tofacilitate identifying, based on the particular region, a first set ofone or more map portions for representing a first portion of theparticular region. The first set can be associated with a first map datasource. The map portion identification module 106 can also be configuredto facilitate identifying, based on the particular region, a second setof one or more map portions for representing a second portion of theparticular region. The second set can be associated with a second mapdata source. In some instances, at least one of the first set or thesecond set can be identified further based on information included inthe request, such as current location information and/or languageinformation. The map portion identification module 106 will be discussedin more detail below with reference to FIG. 2A.

Moreover, the map generation module 108 can be configured to facilitategenerating the map of the particular region based on a combination ofthe first set and the second set. In some cases, the map generationmodule 108 can utilize the first set to generate the first region andcan utilize the second set to generate the second region. More detailsregarding the map generation module 108 will be provided below withreference to FIG. 2B.

Furthermore, in some embodiments, the multiple map portion module 102can be configured to communicate and/or operate with the at least onedata store 110, as shown in the example system 100. The at least onedata store 110 can be configured to store and maintain various types ofdata. In some implementations, the at least one data store 110 can storeinformation associated with the social networking system (e.g., thesocial networking system 730 of FIG. 7). The information associated withthe social networking system can include data about users, socialconnections, social interactions, locations, geo-fenced areas, maps,places, events, pages, groups, posts, communications, content, feeds,account settings, privacy settings, a social graph, and various othertypes of data. In some implementations, the at least one data store 110can store information associated with users, such as user identifiers,user information, profile information, user locations, user specifiedsettings, content produced or posted by users, and various other typesof user data. In some embodiments, the at least one data store 110 canstore information that is utilized by the multiple map portion module102. Again, it is contemplated that there can be many variations orother possibilities.

FIG. 2A illustrates an example map portion identification module 202configured to facilitate utilizing multiple map portions from multiplemap data sources, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.In some embodiments, the map portion identification module 106 of FIG. 1can be implemented as the example map portion identification module 202.As shown in FIG. 2A, the map portion identification module 202 caninclude a request information module 204, a preset module 206, and asimilarity score module 208.

As discussed previously, the map portion identification module 202 canbe configured to facilitate identifying, based on a particular region ofa map for which a request is made, a first set of one or more mapportions for representing a first portion of the particular region. Thefirst set can be associated with a first map data source. The mapportion identification module 202 can also be configured to facilitateidentifying, based on the particular region, a second set of one or moremap portions for representing a second portion of the particular region.The second set can be associated with a second map data source. The mapportion identification module 202 can utilize the request informationmodule 204 to receive, fetch, parse, or otherwise acquire informationincluded in the request, such as information about the particularregion, current location information, and/or language information.Accordingly, the first set and/or the second set can be identified basedon such information included in the request and acquired by the requestinformation module 204.

The first set can be identified based on determining that the first setprovides at least a specified threshold level of detail, accuracy,and/or comprehensiveness for representing the first portion of theparticular region. Similarly, the second set can be identified based ondetermining that the second set provides at least the specifiedthreshold level of detail, accuracy, and/or comprehensiveness forrepresenting the second portion of the particular region. In some cases,the map portion identification module 202 can utilize the preset module206 to preset (e.g., manually define) the first set to be identified forrepresenting the first portion of the particular region, where the firstset has been determined or deemed to be detailed, accurate,comprehensive, and/or otherwise suitable for representing the firstportion. In some instances, the preset module 206 can also preset thesecond set to be identified for representing the second portion of theparticular region, where the second set has been determined or deemed tobe accurate, comprehensive, and/or otherwise suitable for representingthe second portion. In one example, the preset module 206 can generateand store a first mapping between the first portion of the particularregion and the first set. In this example, the preset module 206 canalso generate and store a second mapping between the second portion ofthe particular region and the second set. When the request is for themap of the particular region which includes the first portion and thesecond portion, the first set and the second set can be preset to berespectively identified. It is contemplated that there can be manyvariations or other possibilities associated with the disclosedtechnology. For example, the disclosed technology can be utilized withany suitable quantity of sets of map portions and any suitable quantityof portions of various requested regions.

Additionally, in some embodiments, the map portion identification module202 can, for instance, utilize the similarity score module 208 tocalculate a first map similarity score based on comparing the first setwith one or more recognized map portions associated with a recognizedmap data source. The one or more recognized map portions can representthe first portion of the particular region. The recognized map datasource can, in some cases, correspond to a predefined, trusted, and/orverified map data source that represents the ground truth. Thesimilarity score module 208 can also calculate a second map similarityscore based on comparing a third set of one or more map portions withthe one or more recognized map portions. The third set can represent thefirst portion of the particular region. The map portion identificationmodule 202 can select (or identify) the first set instead of the thirdset when the first map similarity score is greater than the second mapsimilarity score.

Similarly, in some implementations, the map portion identificationmodule 202 can, for example, utilize the similarity score module 208 tocalculate a third map similarity score based on comparing the second setwith one or more other recognized map portions associated with therecognized map data source. The one or more other recognized mapportions can represent the second portion of the particular region. Thesimilarity score module 208 can also calculate a fourth map similarityscore based on comparing a fourth set of one or more map portions withthe one or more other recognized map portions. The fourth set canrepresent the second portion of the particular region. The map portionidentification module 202 can select (or identify) the second setinstead of the fourth set when the third map similarity score is greaterthan the fourth map similarity score. As discussed, it should beappreciated that many variations are possible.

Moreover, in some embodiments, calculating the first map similarityscore based on comparing the first set with the one or more recognizedmap portions can further comprise acquiring a first collection of mapfeatures from the first set. A second collection of map features canalso be acquired from the one or more recognized map portions. Thesimilarity score module 208 can determine a level of similarity betweenthe first collection of map features and the second collection of mapfeatures. The first map similarity score can be based on the level ofsimilarity. In some cases, at least one of the first collection or thesecond collection can include at least one of a road feature, a waterfeature, a landform feature, a landmark feature, or a border feature,etc.

Likewise, calculating the third map similarity score based on comparingthe second set with the one or more other recognized map portions canfurther comprise acquiring a third collection of map features from thesecond set. A fourth collection of map features can also be acquiredfrom the one or more other recognized map portions. The similarity scoremodule 208 can determine another level of similarity between the thirdcollection of map features and the fourth collection of map features.The third map similarity score can be based on this other level ofsimilarity. In some instances, at least one of the third collection orthe fourth collection can include at least one of a road feature, awater feature, a landform feature, a landmark feature, or a borderfeature, etc. Again, many variations are possible.

FIG. 2B illustrates an example map generation module 222 configured tofacilitate utilizing multiple map portions from multiple map datasources, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. In someembodiments, the map generation module 108 of FIG. 1 can be implementedas the example map generation module 222. As shown in FIG. 2B, the mapgeneration module 222 can include a map portion acquisition module 224,a map portion modification module 226, and an attribution informationmodule 228.

As discussed above, the map generation module 222 can be configured tofacilitate generating a map of a particular region based on acombination of a first set of one or more map portions and a second setof one or more map portions. In some embodiments, the map generationmodule 222 can utilize the map portion acquisition module 224 toconcurrently fetch, received, or otherwise acquire the first set and thesecond set. In one instance, at least one map portion in the first setcan be acquired, for generating the map, at a same time (e.g., at leasttemporarily simultaneously) as at least one map portion in the secondset.

Moreover, in some implementations, the map generation module 222 canutilize the map portion modification module 224 to modify a first style(e.g., appearance) associated with the first set and a second styleassociated with the second set such that the first style matches, withinan allowable deviation, the second style (and vice versa). In somecases, the map portion modification module 224 can also blend (e.g.,mix, fade, blur, etc.) one or more first graphical qualities (e.g.,color, brightness, locations of landforms, locations of roads, etc.) ofat least some map portions in the first set with one or more secondgraphical qualities of at least some map portions in the second set.

Furthermore, in some embodiments, the map generation module 222 canutilize the attribution information module 228 to dynamically providefirst attribution information for the first set and second attributioninformation for the second set. In some cases, at least one of the firstattribution information or the second attribution information can beassociated with at least one of a logo, a mark, or a copyright. Again,there can be many variations or other possibilities associated with thedisclosed technology.

FIG. 3A illustrates an example scenario 300 associated with utilizingmultiple map portions from multiple map data sources, according to anembodiment of the present disclosure. In the example scenario 300 ofFIG. 3A, there can be an example map for a particular region generatedbased on a first set of map portions (e.g., map portions 302 and 304)and a second set of map portions (e.g., map portions 306 and 308).

In the example scenario 300, the first set of map portions 302 and 304acquired from a first map data source is utilized to represent a firstportion of the particular region, while the second set of map portions306 and 308 acquired from a second map data source is utilized torepresent a second portion of the particular region. In this example,the first set of map portions 302 and 304 can be selected and identifiedas being suitable, optimal, and/or otherwise appropriate forrepresenting the first portion. Moreover, the second map data source (ora third map data source, etc.) can possess or have access to another setof map portions that represents the first portion, but in this example,the other set of map portions has been determined or deemed to be not assuitable and/or appropriate for representing the first portion as thefirst set. Likewise, in this example, the second set of map portions 306and 308 can be selected and identified as being suitable, optimal,and/or otherwise appropriate for representing the second portion.Furthermore, the first map data source (or the third map data source,etc.) can possess or have access to a different set of map portions thatrepresents the second portion, but in this example, the different set ofmap portions has been determined or deemed to be not as suitable and/orappropriate for representing the second portion as the second set. Therecan be many variations or other possibilities associated with thedisclosed technology.

FIG. 3B illustrates an example scenario 320 associated with utilizingmultiple map portions from multiple map data sources, according to anembodiment of the present disclosure. The example scenario 320 of FIG.3B illustrates the example scenario 300 of FIG. 3A subsequent to havingmodified at least one of the first set (e.g., map portions 302 and 304)or the second set (e.g., map portions 306 and 308) to match one anotherin style and/or appearance within an allowable deviation. As shown inthe example scenario 320 of FIG. 3B, the disclosed technology can modifya first style (or appearance) associated with the first set and/or asecond style (or appearance) associated with the second set such thatthe first style matches, within the allowable deviation, the secondstyle. Again, it should be appreciated that all examples herein areprovided for illustrative purposes and that there can be many variationsor other possibilities.

FIG. 4A illustrates an example scenario 400 associated with utilizingmultiple map portions from multiple map data sources, according to anembodiment of the present disclosure. In the example scenario 400 ofFIG. 4A, there can be an example map for a particular region. Theparticular region can be a zoomed-in version of the map portion 306 ofFIG. 3A or FIG. 3B.

As shown in the example scenario 400 of FIG. 4A, the map for theparticular region can be generated based on a first set of one or moremap portions (e.g., map portions 402 and 406), a second set of one ormore map portions (e.g., map portion 404), and a third set of one ormore map portions (e.g., map portion 408). In the example scenario 400,the first set can be identified as being suitable, optimal, and/orotherwise appropriate for representing a first portion of the particularregion, the second set can be identified as being suitable, optimal,and/or otherwise appropriate for representing a second portion of theparticular region, and the third set can be identified as beingsuitable, optimal, and/or otherwise appropriate for representing a thirdportion of the particular region. It is contemplated that there can bemany variations or other possibilities associated with the disclosedtechnology.

FIG. 4B illustrates an example scenario 420 associated with utilizingmultiple map portions from multiple map data sources, according to anembodiment of the present disclosure. The example scenario 420 of FIG.4B illustrates the example scenario 400 of FIG. 4A subsequent to havingmodified at least one of the first set (e.g., map portions 402 and 406),the second set (e.g., map portion 404), or the third set (e.g., mapportion 408) to match one another in style and/or appearance within anallowable deviation. As shown in the example scenario 420 of FIG. 4B,the disclosed technology can modify a first style (or appearance)associated with the first set, a second style (or appearance) associatedwith the second set, and/or a third style (or appearance) associatedwith the third set such that the first style, the second style, and/orthe third style match one another within the allowable deviation. Asdiscussed, it should be understood that all examples herein are providedfor illustrative purposes and that many variations are possible.

FIG. 5 illustrates an example method 500 associated with utilizingmultiple map portions from multiple map data sources, according to anembodiment of the present disclosure. It should be appreciated thatthere can be additional, fewer, or alternative steps performed insimilar or alternative orders, or in parallel, within the scope of thevarious embodiments unless otherwise stated.

At block 502, the example method 500 can acquire a request for a map ofa particular region. At block 504, the example method 500 can identify,based on the particular region, a first set of one or more map portionsfor representing a first portion of the particular region. The first setcan be associated with a first map data source. At block 506, theexample method 500 can identify, based on the particular region, asecond set of one or more map portions for representing a second portionof the particular region. The second set can be associated with a secondmap data source. At block 508, the example method 500 can generate themap of the particular region based on a combination of the first set andthe second set.

FIG. 6 illustrates an example method 600 associated with utilizingmultiple map portions from multiple map data sources, according to anembodiment of the present disclosure. As discussed, it should beunderstood that there can be additional, fewer, or alternative stepsperformed in similar or alternative orders, or in parallel, within thescope of the various embodiments unless otherwise stated.

At block 602, the example method 600 can calculate a first mapsimilarity score based on comparing the first set with one or morerecognized map portions associated with a recognized map data source.The one or more recognized map portions can represent the first portionof the particular region. At block 604, the example method 600 cancalculate a second map similarity score based on comparing a third setof one or more map portions with the one or more recognized mapportions. The third set can represent the first portion of theparticular region. At block 606, the example method 600 can select thefirst set instead of the third set when the first map similarity scoreis greater than the second map similarity score.

It is contemplated that there can be many other uses, applications,features, possibilities, and/or variations associated with the variousembodiments of the present disclosure. For example, in some embodiments,the disclosed technology can utilize a map, generated based on multiplemap portions from multiple map data sources, to present a particularplace (e.g., landmark, building, store, park, school, residence, pointof interest, etc.). The disclosed technology can generate a bounding box(e.g., a virtual polygonal shape) representing the particular placebased on third-party data (e.g., polygon data) and/or location data(e.g., check-in data for the particular place at various locations).Based on a size (height and width) of the bounding box for theparticular place and based on a size (height and width) of a currentlyviewed/viewable map area, the disclosed technology can determine adefault, preferred, suitable, or optimal zoom level for displaying themap of the particular place, such that the map of the particular placecan center on the particular place while also displaying the boundingbox in its entirety. Moreover, in some instances, the disclosedtechnology can provide multiple dynamic maps at a same time, such as viaan interface with a first interface portion for providing a firstdynamic map and with a second interface portion for proving a seconddynamic map, and so forth. Furthermore, in some cases, users can choosewhether or not to opt-in to utilize the disclosed technology. Thedisclosed technology can, for instance, also ensure that various privacysettings and preferences are maintained and can prevent privateinformation from being divulged. In another example, various embodimentsof the present disclosure can learn, improve, and/or be refined overtime.

Social Networking System—Example Implementation

FIG. 7 illustrates a network diagram of an example system 700 that canbe utilized in various scenarios, in accordance with an embodiment ofthe present disclosure. The system 700 includes one or more user devices710, one or more external systems 720, a social networking system (orservice) 730, and a network 750. In an embodiment, the social networkingservice, provider, and/or system discussed in connection with theembodiments described above may be implemented as the social networkingsystem 730. For purposes of illustration, the embodiment of the system700, shown by FIG. 7, includes a single external system 720 and a singleuser device 710. However, in other embodiments, the system 700 mayinclude more user devices 710 and/or more external systems 720. Incertain embodiments, the social networking system 730 is operated by asocial network provider, whereas the external systems 720 are separatefrom the social networking system 730 in that they may be operated bydifferent entities. In various embodiments, however, the socialnetworking system 730 and the external systems 720 operate inconjunction to provide social networking services to users (or members)of the social networking system 730. In this sense, the socialnetworking system 730 provides a platform or backbone, which othersystems, such as external systems 720, may use to provide socialnetworking services and functionalities to users across the Internet. Insome embodiments, the social networking system 730 can include orcorrespond to a social media system (or service).

The user device 710 comprises one or more computing devices (or systems)that can receive input from a user and transmit and receive data via thenetwork 750. In one embodiment, the user device 710 is a conventionalcomputer system executing, for example, a Microsoft Windows compatibleoperating system (OS), Apple OS X, and/or a Linux distribution. Inanother embodiment, the user device 710 can be a computing device or adevice having computer functionality, such as a smart-phone, a tablet, apersonal digital assistant (PDA), a mobile telephone, a laptop computer,a wearable device (e.g., a pair of glasses, a watch, a bracelet, etc.),a camera, an appliance, etc. The user device 710 is configured tocommunicate via the network 750. The user device 710 can execute anapplication, for example, a browser application that allows a user ofthe user device 710 to interact with the social networking system 730.In another embodiment, the user device 710 interacts with the socialnetworking system 730 through an application programming interface (API)provided by the native operating system of the user device 710, such asiOS and ANDROID. The user device 710 is configured to communicate withthe external system 720 and the social networking system 730 via thenetwork 750, which may comprise any combination of local area and/orwide area networks, using wired and/or wireless communication systems.

In one embodiment, the network 750 uses standard communicationstechnologies and protocols. Thus, the network 750 can include linksusing technologies such as Ethernet, 802.11, worldwide interoperabilityfor microwave access (WiMAX), 3G, 4G, CDMA, GSM, LTE, digital subscriberline (DSL), etc. Similarly, the networking protocols used on the network750 can include multiprotocol label switching (MPLS), transmissioncontrol protocol/Internet protocol (TCP/IP), User Datagram Protocol(UDP), hypertext transport protocol (HTTP), simple mail transferprotocol (SMTP), file transfer protocol (FTP), and the like. The dataexchanged over the network 750 can be represented using technologiesand/or formats including hypertext markup language (HTML) and extensiblemarkup language (XML). In addition, all or some links can be encryptedusing conventional encryption technologies such as secure sockets layer(SSL), transport layer security (TLS), and Internet Protocol security(IPsec).

In one embodiment, the user device 710 may display content from theexternal system 720 and/or from the social networking system 730 byprocessing a markup language document 714 received from the externalsystem 720 and from the social networking system 730 using a browserapplication 712. The markup language document 714 identifies content andone or more instructions describing formatting or presentation of thecontent. By executing the instructions included in the markup languagedocument 714, the browser application 712 displays the identifiedcontent using the format or presentation described by the markuplanguage document 714. For example, the markup language document 714includes instructions for generating and displaying a web page havingmultiple frames that include text and/or image data retrieved from theexternal system 720 and the social networking system 730. In variousembodiments, the markup language document 714 comprises a data fileincluding extensible markup language (XML) data, extensible hypertextmarkup language (XHTML) data, or other markup language data.Additionally, the markup language document 714 may include JavaScriptObject Notation (JSON) data, JSON with padding (JSONP), and JavaScriptdata to facilitate data-interchange between the external system 720 andthe user device 710. The browser application 712 on the user device 710may use a JavaScript compiler to decode the markup language document714.

The markup language document 714 may also include, or link to,applications or application frameworks such as FLASH™ or Unity™applications, the Silverlight™ application framework, etc.

In one embodiment, the user device 710 also includes one or more cookies716 including data indicating whether a user of the user device 710 islogged into the social networking system 730, which may enablemodification of the data communicated from the social networking system730 to the user device 710.

The external system 720 includes one or more web servers that includeone or more web pages 722 a, 722 b, which are communicated to the userdevice 710 using the network 750. The external system 720 is separatefrom the social networking system 730. For example, the external system720 is associated with a first domain, while the social networkingsystem 730 is associated with a separate social networking domain. Webpages 722 a, 722 b, included in the external system 720, comprise markuplanguage documents 714 identifying content and including instructionsspecifying formatting or presentation of the identified content.

The social networking system 730 includes one or more computing devicesfor a social network, including a plurality of users, and providingusers of the social network with the ability to communicate and interactwith other users of the social network. In some instances, the socialnetwork can be represented by a graph, i.e., a data structure includingedges and nodes. Other data structures can also be used to represent thesocial network, including but not limited to databases, objects,classes, meta elements, files, or any other data structure. The socialnetworking system 730 may be administered, managed, or controlled by anoperator. The operator of the social networking system 730 may be ahuman being, an automated application, or a series of applications formanaging content, regulating policies, and collecting usage metricswithin the social networking system 730. Any type of operator may beused.

Users may join the social networking system 730 and then add connectionsto any number of other users of the social networking system 730 to whomthey desire to be connected. As used herein, the term “friend” refers toany other user of the social networking system 730 to whom a user hasformed a connection, association, or relationship via the socialnetworking system 730. For example, in an embodiment, if users in thesocial networking system 730 are represented as nodes in the socialgraph, the term “friend” can refer to an edge formed between anddirectly connecting two user nodes.

Connections may be added explicitly by a user or may be automaticallycreated by the social networking system 730 based on commoncharacteristics of the users (e.g., users who are alumni of the sameeducational institution). For example, a first user specifically selectsa particular other user to be a friend. Connections in the socialnetworking system 730 are usually in both directions, but need not be,so the terms “user” and “friend” depend on the frame of reference.Connections between users of the social networking system 730 areusually bilateral (“two-way”), or “mutual,” but connections may also beunilateral, or “one-way.” For example, if Bob and Joe are both users ofthe social networking system 730 and connected to each other, Bob andJoe are each other's connections. If, on the other hand, Bob wishes toconnect to Joe to view data communicated to the social networking system730 by Joe, but Joe does not wish to form a mutual connection, aunilateral connection may be established. The connection between usersmay be a direct connection; however, some embodiments of the socialnetworking system 730 allow the connection to be indirect via one ormore levels of connections or degrees of separation.

In addition to establishing and maintaining connections between usersand allowing interactions between users, the social networking system730 provides users with the ability to take actions on various types ofitems supported by the social networking system 730. These items mayinclude groups or networks (i.e., social networks of people, entities,and concepts) to which users of the social networking system 730 maybelong, events or calendar entries in which a user might be interested,computer-based applications that a user may use via the socialnetworking system 730, transactions that allow users to buy or sellitems via services provided by or through the social networking system730, and interactions with advertisements that a user may perform on oroff the social networking system 730. These are just a few examples ofthe items upon which a user may act on the social networking system 730,and many others are possible. A user may interact with anything that iscapable of being represented in the social networking system 730 or inthe external system 720, separate from the social networking system 730,or coupled to the social networking system 730 via the network 750.

The social networking system 730 is also capable of linking a variety ofentities. For example, the social networking system 730 enables users tointeract with each other as well as external systems 720 or otherentities through an API, a web service, or other communication channels.The social networking system 730 generates and maintains the “socialgraph” comprising a plurality of nodes interconnected by a plurality ofedges. Each node in the social graph may represent an entity that canact on another node and/or that can be acted on by another node. Thesocial graph may include various types of nodes. Examples of types ofnodes include users, non-person entities, content items, web pages,groups, activities, messages, concepts, and any other things that can berepresented by an object in the social networking system 730. An edgebetween two nodes in the social graph may represent a particular kind ofconnection, or association, between the two nodes, which may result fromnode relationships or from an action that was performed by one of thenodes on the other node. In some cases, the edges between nodes can beweighted. The weight of an edge can represent an attribute associatedwith the edge, such as a strength of the connection or associationbetween nodes. Different types of edges can be provided with differentweights. For example, an edge created when one user “likes” another usermay be given one weight, while an edge created when a user befriendsanother user may be given a different weight.

As an example, when a first user identifies a second user as a friend,an edge in the social graph is generated connecting a node representingthe first user and a second node representing the second user. Asvarious nodes relate or interact with each other, the social networkingsystem 730 modifies edges connecting the various nodes to reflect therelationships and interactions.

The social networking system 730 also includes user-generated content,which enhances a user's interactions with the social networking system730. User-generated content may include anything a user can add, upload,send, or “post” to the social networking system 730. For example, a usercommunicates posts to the social networking system 730 from a userdevice 710. Posts may include data such as status updates or othertextual data, location information, images such as photos, videos,links, music or other similar data and/or media. Content may also beadded to the social networking system 730 by a third party. Content“items” are represented as objects in the social networking system 730.In this way, users of the social networking system 730 are encouraged tocommunicate with each other by posting text and content items of varioustypes of media through various communication channels. Suchcommunication increases the interaction of users with each other andincreases the frequency with which users interact with the socialnetworking system 730.

The social networking system 730 includes a web server 732, an APIrequest server 734, a user profile store 736, a connection store 738, anaction logger 740, an activity log 742, and an authorization server 744.In an embodiment of the invention, the social networking system 730 mayinclude additional, fewer, or different components for variousapplications. Other components, such as network interfaces, securitymechanisms, load balancers, failover servers, management and networkoperations consoles, and the like are not shown so as to not obscure thedetails of the system.

The user profile store 736 maintains information about user accounts,including biographic, demographic, and other types of descriptiveinformation, such as work experience, educational history, hobbies orpreferences, location, and the like that has been declared by users orinferred by the social networking system 730. This information is storedin the user profile store 736 such that each user is uniquelyidentified. The social networking system 730 also stores data describingone or more connections between different users in the connection store738. The connection information may indicate users who have similar orcommon work experience, group memberships, hobbies, or educationalhistory. Additionally, the social networking system 730 includesuser-defined connections between different users, allowing users tospecify their relationships with other users. For example, user-definedconnections allow users to generate relationships with other users thatparallel the users' real-life relationships, such as friends,co-workers, partners, and so forth. Users may select from predefinedtypes of connections, or define their own connection types as needed.Connections with other nodes in the social networking system 730, suchas non-person entities, buckets, cluster centers, images, interests,pages, external systems, concepts, and the like are also stored in theconnection store 738.

The social networking system 730 maintains data about objects with whicha user may interact. To maintain this data, the user profile store 736and the connection store 738 store instances of the corresponding typeof objects maintained by the social networking system 730. Each objecttype has information fields that are suitable for storing informationappropriate to the type of object. For example, the user profile store736 contains data structures with fields suitable for describing auser's account and information related to a user's account. When a newobject of a particular type is created, the social networking system 730initializes a new data structure of the corresponding type, assigns aunique object identifier to it, and begins to add data to the object asneeded. This might occur, for example, when a user becomes a user of thesocial networking system 730, the social networking system 730 generatesa new instance of a user profile in the user profile store 736, assignsa unique identifier to the user account, and begins to populate thefields of the user account with information provided by the user.

The connection store 738 includes data structures suitable fordescribing a user's connections to other users, connections to externalsystems 720 or connections to other entities. The connection store 738may also associate a connection type with a user's connections, whichmay be used in conjunction with the user's privacy setting to regulateaccess to information about the user. In an embodiment of the invention,the user profile store 736 and the connection store 738 may beimplemented as a federated database.

Data stored in the connection store 738, the user profile store 736, andthe activity log 742 enables the social networking system 730 togenerate the social graph that uses nodes to identify various objectsand edges connecting nodes to identify relationships between differentobjects. For example, if a first user establishes a connection with asecond user in the social networking system 730, user accounts of thefirst user and the second user from the user profile store 736 may actas nodes in the social graph. The connection between the first user andthe second user stored by the connection store 738 is an edge betweenthe nodes associated with the first user and the second user. Continuingthis example, the second user may then send the first user a messagewithin the social networking system 730. The action of sending themessage, which may be stored, is another edge between the two nodes inthe social graph representing the first user and the second user.Additionally, the message itself may be identified and included in thesocial graph as another node connected to the nodes representing thefirst user and the second user.

In another example, a first user may tag a second user in an image thatis maintained by the social networking system 730 (or, alternatively, inan image maintained by another system outside of the social networkingsystem 730). The image may itself be represented as a node in the socialnetworking system 730. This tagging action may create edges between thefirst user and the second user as well as create an edge between each ofthe users and the image, which is also a node in the social graph. Inyet another example, if a user confirms attending an event, the user andthe event are nodes obtained from the user profile store 736, where theattendance of the event is an edge between the nodes that may beretrieved from the activity log 742. By generating and maintaining thesocial graph, the social networking system 730 includes data describingmany different types of objects and the interactions and connectionsamong those objects, providing a rich source of socially relevantinformation.

The web server 732 links the social networking system 730 to one or moreuser devices 710 and/or one or more external systems 720 via the network750. The web server 732 serves web pages, as well as other web-relatedcontent, such as Java, JavaScript, Flash, XML, and so forth. The webserver 732 may include a mail server or other messaging functionalityfor receiving and routing messages between the social networking system730 and one or more user devices 710. The messages can be instantmessages, queued messages (e.g., email), text and SMS messages, or anyother suitable messaging format.

The API request server 734 allows one or more external systems 720 anduser devices 710 to call access information from the social networkingsystem 730 by calling one or more API functions. The API request server734 may also allow external systems 720 to send information to thesocial networking system 730 by calling APIs. The external system 720,in one embodiment, sends an API request to the social networking system730 via the network 750, and the API request server 734 receives the APIrequest. The API request server 734 processes the request by calling anAPI associated with the API request to generate an appropriate response,which the API request server 734 communicates to the external system 720via the network 750. For example, responsive to an API request, the APIrequest server 734 collects data associated with a user, such as theuser's connections that have logged into the external system 720, andcommunicates the collected data to the external system 720. In anotherembodiment, the user device 710 communicates with the social networkingsystem 730 via APIs in the same manner as external systems 720.

The action logger 740 is capable of receiving communications from theweb server 732 about user actions on and/or off the social networkingsystem 730. The action logger 740 populates the activity log 742 withinformation about user actions, enabling the social networking system730 to discover various actions taken by its users within the socialnetworking system 730 and outside of the social networking system 730.Any action that a particular user takes with respect to another node onthe social networking system 730 may be associated with each user'saccount, through information maintained in the activity log 742 or in asimilar database or other data repository. Examples of actions taken bya user within the social networking system 730 that are identified andstored may include, for example, adding a connection to another user,sending a message to another user, reading a message from another user,viewing content associated with another user, attending an event postedby another user, posting an image, attempting to post an image, or otheractions interacting with another user or another object. When a usertakes an action within the social networking system 730, the action isrecorded in the activity log 742. In one embodiment, the socialnetworking system 730 maintains the activity log 742 as a database ofentries. When an action is taken within the social networking system730, an entry for the action is added to the activity log 742. Theactivity log 742 may be referred to as an action log.

Additionally, user actions may be associated with concepts and actionsthat occur within an entity outside of the social networking system 730,such as an external system 720 that is separate from the socialnetworking system 730. For example, the action logger 740 may receivedata describing a user's interaction with an external system 720 fromthe web server 732. In this example, the external system 720 reports auser's interaction according to structured actions and objects in thesocial graph.

Other examples of actions where a user interacts with an external system720 include a user expressing an interest in an external system 720 oranother entity, a user posting a comment to the social networking system730 that discusses an external system 720 or a web page 722 a within theexternal system 720, a user posting to the social networking system 730a Uniform Resource Locator (URL) or other identifier associated with anexternal system 720, a user attending an event associated with anexternal system 720, or any other action by a user that is related to anexternal system 720. Thus, the activity log 742 may include actionsdescribing interactions between a user of the social networking system730 and an external system 720 that is separate from the socialnetworking system 730.

The authorization server 744 enforces one or more privacy settings ofthe users of the social networking system 730. A privacy setting of auser determines how particular information associated with a user can beshared. The privacy setting comprises the specification of particularinformation associated with a user and the specification of the entityor entities with whom the information can be shared. Examples ofentities with which information can be shared may include other users,applications, external systems 720, or any entity that can potentiallyaccess the information. The information that can be shared by a usercomprises user account information, such as profile photos, phonenumbers associated with the user, user's connections, actions taken bythe user such as adding a connection, changing user profile information,and the like.

The privacy setting specification may be provided at different levels ofgranularity. For example, the privacy setting may identify specificinformation to be shared with other users; the privacy settingidentifies a work phone number or a specific set of related information,such as, personal information including profile photo, home phonenumber, and status. Alternatively, the privacy setting may apply to allthe information associated with the user. The specification of the setof entities that can access particular information can also be specifiedat various levels of granularity. Various sets of entities with whichinformation can be shared may include, for example, all friends of theuser, all friends of friends, all applications, or all external systems720. One embodiment allows the specification of the set of entities tocomprise an enumeration of entities. For example, the user may provide alist of external systems 720 that are allowed to access certaininformation. Another embodiment allows the specification to comprise aset of entities along with exceptions that are not allowed to access theinformation. For example, a user may allow all external systems 720 toaccess the user's work information, but specify a list of externalsystems 720 that are not allowed to access the work information. Certainembodiments call the list of exceptions that are not allowed to accesscertain information a “block list”. External systems 720 belonging to ablock list specified by a user are blocked from accessing theinformation specified in the privacy setting. Various combinations ofgranularity of specification of information, and granularity ofspecification of entities, with which information is shared arepossible. For example, all personal information may be shared withfriends whereas all work information may be shared with friends offriends.

The authorization server 744 contains logic to determine if certaininformation associated with a user can be accessed by a user's friends,external systems 720, and/or other applications and entities. Theexternal system 720 may need authorization from the authorization server744 to access the user's more private and sensitive information, such asthe user's work phone number. Based on the user's privacy settings, theauthorization server 744 determines if another user, the external system720, an application, or another entity is allowed to access informationassociated with the user, including information about actions taken bythe user.

In some embodiments, the social networking system 730 can include amultiple map portion module 746. The multiple map portion module 746can, for example, be implemented as the multiple map portion module 102of FIG. 1. As discussed previously, it should be appreciated that therecan be many variations or other possibilities. For example, in someinstances, the multiple map portion module (or at least a portionthereof) can be included or implemented in the user device 710. Otherfeatures of the multiple map portion module 746 are discussed herein inconnection with the multiple map portion module 102.

Hardware Implementation

The foregoing processes and features can be implemented by a widevariety of machine and computer system architectures and in a widevariety of network and computing environments. FIG. 8 illustrates anexample of a computer system 800 that may be used to implement one ormore of the embodiments described herein in accordance with anembodiment of the invention. The computer system 800 includes sets ofinstructions for causing the computer system 800 to perform theprocesses and features discussed herein. The computer system 800 may beconnected (e.g., networked) to other machines. In a networkeddeployment, the computer system 800 may operate in the capacity of aserver machine or a client machine in a client-server networkenvironment, or as a peer machine in a peer-to-peer (or distributed)network environment. In an embodiment of the invention, the computersystem 800 may be the social networking system 730, the user device 710,and the external system 820, or a component thereof. In an embodiment ofthe invention, the computer system 800 may be one server among many thatconstitutes all or part of the social networking system 730.

The computer system 800 includes a processor 802, a cache 804, and oneor more executable modules and drivers, stored on a computer-readablemedium, directed to the processes and features described herein.Additionally, the computer system 800 includes a high performanceinput/output (I/O) bus 806 and a standard I/O bus 808. A host bridge 810couples processor 802 to high performance I/O bus 806, whereas I/O busbridge 812 couples the two buses 806 and 808 to each other. A systemmemory 814 and one or more network interfaces 816 couple to highperformance I/O bus 806. The computer system 800 may further includevideo memory and a display device coupled to the video memory (notshown). Mass storage 818 and I/O ports 820 couple to the standard I/Obus 808. The computer system 800 may optionally include a keyboard andpointing device, a display device, or other input/output devices (notshown) coupled to the standard I/O bus 808. Collectively, these elementsare intended to represent a broad category of computer hardware systems,including but not limited to computer systems based on the×86-compatible processors manufactured by Intel Corporation of SantaClara, Calif., and the ×86-compatible processors manufactured byAdvanced Micro Devices (AMD), Inc., of Sunnyvale, Calif., as well as anyother suitable processor.

An operating system manages and controls the operation of the computersystem 800, including the input and output of data to and from softwareapplications (not shown). The operating system provides an interfacebetween the software applications being executed on the system and thehardware components of the system. Any suitable operating system may beused, such as the LINUX Operating System, the Apple Macintosh OperatingSystem, available from Apple Computer Inc. of Cupertino, Calif., UNIXoperating systems, Microsoft® Windows® operating systems, BSD operatingsystems, and the like. Other implementations are possible.

The elements of the computer system 800 are described in greater detailbelow. In particular, the network interface 816 provides communicationbetween the computer system 800 and any of a wide range of networks,such as an Ethernet (e.g., IEEE 802.3) network, a backplane, etc. Themass storage 818 provides permanent storage for the data and programminginstructions to perform the above-described processes and featuresimplemented by the respective computing systems identified above,whereas the system memory 814 (e.g., DRAM) provides temporary storagefor the data and programming instructions when executed by the processor802. The I/O ports 820 may be one or more serial and/or parallelcommunication ports that provide communication between additionalperipheral devices, which may be coupled to the computer system 800.

The computer system 800 may include a variety of system architectures,and various components of the computer system 800 may be rearranged. Forexample, the cache 804 may be on-chip with processor 802. Alternatively,the cache 804 and the processor 802 may be packed together as a“processor module”, with processor 802 being referred to as the“processor core”. Furthermore, certain embodiments of the invention mayneither require nor include all of the above components. For example,peripheral devices coupled to the standard I/O bus 808 may couple to thehigh performance I/O bus 806. In addition, in some embodiments, only asingle bus may exist, with the components of the computer system 800being coupled to the single bus. Moreover, the computer system 800 mayinclude additional components, such as additional processors, storagedevices, or memories.

In general, the processes and features described herein may beimplemented as part of an operating system or a specific application,component, program, object, module, or series of instructions referredto as “programs”. For example, one or more programs may be used toexecute specific processes described herein. The programs typicallycomprise one or more instructions in various memory and storage devicesin the computer system 800 that, when read and executed by one or moreprocessors, cause the computer system 800 to perform operations toexecute the processes and features described herein. The processes andfeatures described herein may be implemented in software, firmware,hardware (e.g., an application specific integrated circuit), or anycombination thereof.

In one implementation, the processes and features described herein areimplemented as a series of executable modules run by the computer system800, individually or collectively in a distributed computingenvironment. The foregoing modules may be realized by hardware,executable modules stored on a computer-readable medium (ormachine-readable medium), or a combination of both. For example, themodules may comprise a plurality or series of instructions to beexecuted by a processor in a hardware system, such as the processor 802.Initially, the series of instructions may be stored on a storage device,such as the mass storage 818. However, the series of instructions can bestored on any suitable computer readable storage medium. Furthermore,the series of instructions need not be stored locally, and could bereceived from a remote storage device, such as a server on a network,via the network interface 816. The instructions are copied from thestorage device, such as the mass storage 818, into the system memory 814and then accessed and executed by the processor 802. In variousimplementations, a module or modules can be executed by a processor ormultiple processors in one or multiple locations, such as multipleservers in a parallel processing environment.

Examples of computer-readable media include, but are not limited to,recordable type media such as volatile and non-volatile memory devices;solid state memories; floppy and other removable disks; hard diskdrives; magnetic media; optical disks (e.g., Compact Disk Read-OnlyMemory (CD ROMS), Digital Versatile Disks (DVDs)); other similarnon-transitory (or transitory), tangible (or non-tangible) storagemedium; or any type of medium suitable for storing, encoding, orcarrying a series of instructions for execution by the computer system800 to perform any one or more of the processes and features describedherein.

For purposes of explanation, numerous specific details are set forth inorder to provide a thorough understanding of the description. It will beapparent, however, to one skilled in the art that embodiments of thedisclosure can be practiced without these specific details. In someinstances, modules, structures, processes, features, and devices areshown in block diagram form in order to avoid obscuring the description.In other instances, functional block diagrams and flow diagrams areshown to represent data and logic flows. The components of blockdiagrams and flow diagrams (e.g., modules, blocks, structures, devices,features, etc.) may be variously combined, separated, removed,reordered, and replaced in a manner other than as expressly describedand depicted herein.

Reference in this specification to “one embodiment”, “an embodiment”,“other embodiments”, “one series of embodiments”, “some embodiments”,“various embodiments”, or the like means that a particular feature,design, structure, or characteristic described in connection with theembodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the disclosure. Theappearances of, for example, the phrase “in one embodiment” or “in anembodiment” in various places in the specification are not necessarilyall referring to the same embodiment, nor are separate or alternativeembodiments mutually exclusive of other embodiments. Moreover, whetheror not there is express reference to an “embodiment” or the like,various features are described, which may be variously combined andincluded in some embodiments, but also variously omitted in otherembodiments. Similarly, various features are described that may bepreferences or requirements for some embodiments, but not otherembodiments. Furthermore, reference in this specification to “based on”can mean “based, at least in part, on”, “based on at least aportion/part of”, “at least a portion/part of which is based on”, and/orany combination thereof.

The language used herein has been principally selected for readabilityand instructional purposes, and it may not have been selected todelineate or circumscribe the inventive subject matter. It is thereforeintended that the scope of the invention be limited not by this detaileddescription, but rather by any claims that issue on an application basedhereon. Accordingly, the disclosure of the embodiments of the inventionis intended to be illustrative, but not limiting, of the scope of theinvention, which is set forth in the following claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A computer-implemented method comprising:acquiring, by a computing system, a request for a map of a particularregion; identifying, by the computing system, based on the particularregion, a first set of one or more map portions for representing a firstgeographic portion of the particular region, the first set beingassociated with a first map data source; identifying, by the computingsystem, based on the particular region, a second set of one or more mapportions for representing a second geographic portion of the particularregion, the second set being associated with a second map data source;modifying, by the computing system, a brightness of the second set basedon a brightness of the first set; and generating, by the computingsystem, the map of the particular region based on a combination of thefirst set and the second set, wherein the identifying, based on theparticular region, a first set of one or more map portions comprises:calculating a first map similarity score based on comparing the firstset of one or more map portions with the one or more recognized mapportions associated with the recognized map data source, the one or morerecognized map portions representing the first geographic portion of theparticular region; calculating a second map similarity score based oncomparing a third set of one or more map portions with the one or morerecognized map portions, the third set representing the first geographicportion of the particular region; and selecting the first set instead ofthe third set based on a determination that the first map similarityscore is greater than the second map similarity score.
 2. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the calculating thefirst map similarity score based on comparing the first set with the oneor more recognized map portions further comprises: acquiring a firstcollection of map features from the first set; acquiring a secondcollection of map features from the one or more recognized map portions;and determining a level of similarity between the first collection ofmap features and the second collection of map features, the first mapsimilarity score being based on the level of similarity.
 3. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 2, wherein at least one of thefirst collection or the second collection includes at least one of aroad feature, a water feature, a landform feature, a landmark feature,or a border feature.
 4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1,wherein the first set is preset to be identified for representing thefirst geographic portion of the particular region.
 5. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein at least one map portionin the first set is acquired, for generating the map, at a same time asat least one map portion in the second set.
 6. The computer-implementedmethod of claim 1, further comprising: modifying a first styleassociated with the first set and a second style associated with thesecond set such that the first style matches, within an allowabledeviation, the second style.
 7. The computer-implemented method of claim1, wherein the request further includes current location information,wherein the current location information is associated with a devicethat provides the request, and wherein at least one of the first set orthe second set is identified based on the current location information.8. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the requestfurther includes language information, wherein the language informationis associated with a device that provides the request, and wherein atleast one of the first set or the second set is identified based on thelanguage information.
 9. A system comprising: at least one processor;and a memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at leastone processor, cause the system to perform: acquiring a request for amap of a particular region; identifying, based on the particular region,a first set of one or more map portions for representing a firstgeographic portion of the particular region, the first set beingassociated with a first map data source; identifying, based on theparticular region, a second set of one or more map portions forrepresenting a second geographic portion of the particular region, thesecond set being associated with a second map data source; modifying abrightness of the second set based on a brightness of the first set; andgenerating the map of the particular region based on a combination ofthe first set and the second set, wherein the identifying, based on theparticular region, a first set of one or more map portions comprises:calculating a first map similarity score based on comparing the firstset of one or more map portions with the one or more recognized mapportions associated with the recognized map data source, the one or morerecognized map portions representing the first geographic portion of theparticular region; calculating a second map similarity score based oncomparing a third set of one or more map portions with the one or morerecognized map portions, the third set representing the first geographicportion of the particular region; and selecting the first set instead ofthe third set based on a determination that the first map similarityscore is greater than the second map similarity score.
 10. The system ofclaim 9, wherein the calculating the first map similarity score based oncomparing the first set with the one or more recognized map portionsfurther comprises: acquiring a first collection of map features from thefirst set; acquiring a second collection of map features from the one ormore recognized map portions; and determining a level of similaritybetween the first collection of map features and the second collectionof map features, the first map similarity score being based on the levelof similarity.
 11. The system of claim 9, wherein at least one mapportion in the first set is acquired, for generating the map, at a sametime as at least one map portion in the second set.
 12. The system ofclaim 9, wherein the instructions cause the system to further perform:modifying a first style associated with the first set and a second styleassociated with the second set such that the first style matches, withinan allowable deviation, the second style.
 13. A non-transitorycomputer-readable storage medium including instructions that, whenexecuted by at least one processor of a computing system, cause thecomputing system to perform a method comprising: acquiring a request fora map of a particular region; identifying, based on the particularregion, a first set of one or more map portions for representing a firstgeographic portion of the particular region, the first set beingassociated with a first map data source; identifying, based on theparticular region, a second set of one or more map portions forrepresenting a second geographic portion of the particular region, thesecond set being associated with a second map data source; modifying abrightness of the second set based on a brightness of the first set; andgenerating the map of the particular region based on a combination ofthe first set and the second set, wherein the identifying, based on theparticular region, a first set of one or more map portions comprises:calculating a first map similarity score based on comparing the firstset of one or more map portions with the one or more recognized mapportions associated with the recognized map data source, the one or morerecognized map portions representing the first geographic portion of theparticular region; calculating a second map similarity score based oncomparing a third set of one or more map portions with the one or morerecognized map portions, the third set representing the first geographicportion of the particular region; and selecting the first set instead ofthe third set based on a determination that the first map similarityscore is greater than the second map similarity score.
 14. Thenon-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 13, wherein thecalculating the first map similarity score based on comparing the firstset with the one or more recognized map portions further comprises:acquiring a first collection of map features from the first set;acquiring a second collection of map features from the one or morerecognized map portions; and determining a level of similarity betweenthe first collection of map features and the second collection of mapfeatures, the first map similarity score being based on the level ofsimilarity.
 15. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium ofclaim 13, wherein at least one map portion in the first set is acquired,for generating the map, at a same time as at least one map portion inthe second set.
 16. The non-transitory computer-readable storage mediumof claim 13, wherein the instructions cause the computing system tofurther perform: modifying a first style associated with the first setand a second style associated with the second set such that the firststyle matches, within an allowable deviation, the second style.